Lesson Nine    The Meeting of Two Old Friends 
两个老朋友的会晤
The policeman on the beat moved up the avenue.  The time was just 10 o'clock at night, but the chilly wind, with a taste of rain, had left the streets almost entirely free of inhabitants. Hardly a sound was emitted from this lonely avenue. And the policeman who walked up the avenue thought it was unlikely that he would run into any trouble, let alone have to remove his gun from the strap that held it to his waist, as the night was so quiet.
警察在大街上巡逻。时值晚上10点，冷风飕飕，带着雨意，把城里的街道刮得几乎没了人影，而这条空冷的大街，也几乎没有一点声响。警察走在街上心想深夜万籁俱寂，不可能遇上什么麻烦，更不用说拔出别在腰间皮带上的手了。
Trying doors as he went, as was his usual routine, the officer made his way through the quiet neighborhood. At this time of night, the area was especially quiet. Now and then, if you did a loop of the area, you might see the lights of an emergency dental office or something of the s
ort; but the majority of the doors belonged to business places that had long since been closed. There were no bars with music booming into the streets.
警察挨户地巡逻，查看门是否关好，就像通常值勤那样，一路穿过宁静的住宅区。在深夜的这个时刻，住宅区异常的宁静。倘若围着它绕一圈，可能会不时地看到牙科急诊所或诸如此类地方的灯光。但是大多数生意场所都已经打烊了。没有哪家酒吧的嘈杂音乐传到街上。
When about midway of a certain block, the policeman suddenly slowed his walk. An ordinary man might have needed a telescope to see what was visible to the officer from such a distance. But this officer was not an ordinary man. In getting his police certificate almost two decades ago, he was praised for his excellent eyesight. Just then he saw, in the doorway of a darkened hardware store, a man. As the policeman walked up to him the man spoke up quickly.
走到某街区的中段，警察突然放慢了脚步。或许，普通人需要用望远镜才能看清警察从这样远的距离外看到的东西。但是这个警察不是普通人。差不多20年前，在他获得书的时候，他就因目光锐利而受到称赞。就在这时，他看见一个男人站在幽暗的五金店门口。警察
一向他走去，那人就开口说话了。
"It's all right, officer," the man said, reassuringly. "I'm just waiting for a friend. It's an appointment made twenty years ago. Sounds funny, doesn't it?  Well, I'll explain if you'd like to make certain it's all straight. About that long ago there used to be a restaurant where this store stands—'Big Joe' Brady's Restaurant."    “没事，长官，”那人安慰地说。“我在等一位朋友。这是20年前的约会。听起来很有趣，是不是？好吧，如果有兴致的话，我来给你讲讲。大约20年前，这里有一家餐馆，大乔?布雷迪餐馆，就在这个商店所在的位置。”
"Until five years ago," said the policeman. "It was torn down then."
“五年前，”警察说。“餐馆给拆了。”
  The man in the doorway struck a match and lit his cigar. He sucked on the end, and the cigar burned brightly. The light showed a pale face with sharp eyes. His trousers were black with thin, white stripes.
站在门口的男人划了根火柴，点上了雪茄。他吸了一口，雪茄闪着光，映出一张灰白的脸，
一双锐利的眼睛。他的裤子是黑，上面有细细的白条纹。
"Twenty years ago tonight," said the man, "I dined here at 'Big Joe' Brady's with Jimmy Wells, my best friend. He and I were raised here in New York. We were poor mechanics, toying with turbine engines and installing generators.  But that wasn't for me. The next morning I was to start for the West to make my fortune. You couldn't have dragged Jimmy out of New York, not by any vehicle, no matter the horsepower. Well, we agreed that night to meet here again exactly twenty years from that date and time." 
“20年前的今晚，”男人说道，“我在大乔?布雷迪餐馆和吉米?韦尔斯吃饭，他是我最好的朋友。我和他都在纽约长大。我们是穷机器修理工，摆弄涡轮引擎，安装发电机。但这不是我想干的。第二天早晨，我就会上路，到西部去发财。你是无法让吉米离开纽约的，不管用什么车，多大马力。哦，我们倒是答应，20年后的今晚在这里见面。”
"You fared pretty well out West, didn't you?" asked the policeman.
“你在西部混得不错，是吧？”警察问道。
"You bet! I hope Jimmy has done half as well. He wasn't the smartest man, though, good fellow as he was.  I've had to compete with some of the sharpest wits going to get my pile.  A man gets lazy in New York; he gets soft. The West, on the other hand, prescribes a harsh pill that makes a man strong of mind. I started working on a steamer. And by means legal and illegal, I managed to rise to the top."
“那当然！吉米能有我做的一半好就好了。他不是最聪明的，但人不错。有些非常聪明的人想得到我的钱，我得跟他们斗一斗。在纽约人会变懒，变得没朝气。西部就不同了，西部的严峻形势，能让人变得意志坚强。我一开始在汽船上工作，最终凭借着合法的和不合法的手段做了人上人。”
The policeman took a step or two.
警察走了一两步。
"I'll be on my way. The station will deduct money from my pay if I stand around chatting all night. Good night, sir," said the policeman, as he left.
sort of there是什么意思
“我得走了。如果我一整夜站在这儿聊天，局里会从我工资中扣钱。晚安，先生。”他说着就离开了。
There was then a hard rain falling, and the wind had risen into a steady blow that laid siege to the city streets. And in the door of the hardware store the man who had come a thousand miles to fill an appointment smoked his cigar and waited.    接着下起了大雨，风一阵比一阵紧，刮向城里的街道。在五金店的门口，那个男人一边抽着雪茄一边等人，他是从一千英里外赶来赴约会的。
About twenty minutes he waited, and then a tall man in a long overcoat hurried across from the opposite side of the street. He went directly to the waiting man.
大约20分钟后，一个身穿长大衣的高个子男人从对面街道匆匆走来，直奔等待中的男人。
"Is that you, Bob?" he asked.
“是你吗，鲍勃？”他问道。
Bob, the man from the West, smiled and nodded. The two men greeted each other and then started up the street, arm in arm. The man from the West, his feelings of self enlarged by success, was beginning to outline the history of his career, describing his output. The other, submerged in his overcoat, listened with interest.

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